Never a Hero To Me

An innocent girl. A father's sins. And the men who closed ranks against her

Tracy Black

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN:
  9780857203304
• Print ISBN:
  9780857203298

A shocking and compelling memoir of a young girl's childhood spent suffering abuse at the hands of her father and his friends.

Tracy Black was only five years old when her mother was hospitalised for the first of many occasions, leaving Tracy in the care of her father. His behaviour, seemingly overnight, changed from indifferent to violently abusive and, for the next seven years, Tracy was sexually and physically abused by her father, his friends and her own brother. All of the men were in the British Armed Forces.

Tracy's father compounded the abuse by sending her to baby-sit for his paedophile friends - whilst their own children slept in other rooms, these men would find excuses to leave later or return earlier than their wives in order to abuse her, with her own father's blessing. When she sought help and safety the doors were closed as the authorities closed ranks.

In this shocking and compelling book, Tracy Black pieces together the jigsaw of a story that has haunted her for the past forty years. She reveals the horrific betrayal of trust perpetrated by men who were considered upstanding citizens and heroes.

Tracy's tale reminds us all of the terrible ways in which paedophiles work and the secrets too many children are forced to carry alone. It is only now that she can tell her full story of recovery.

This truly inspirational story will appeal to readers of Trisha Merry and Cathy Glass.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Contents
• Prologue: Heroes
• Foreword
• 1 I Want My Mum
• 2 Fun
• 3 Being a Good Girl
• 4 A Small World
• 5 Everything Changes
• 6 Responsibilities
• 7 The Loving Couple
• 8 On the Outside
• 9 Saving Mum
• 10 Respect
• 11 Northern Ireland
• 12 Danger
• 13 Lucky Man
• 14 Normal
• 15 A Man with Friends
• 16 Still the Good Girl
• 17 Starting the Fire
• 18 Getting Out
• 19 Plausible
• 20 My New Home
• 21 A Sense of Normality
• 22 Secrets
• 23 Moving On
• 24 Standing My Ground
• 25 Time to Fly
• Epilogue: Silent No More
• Acknowledgements